Amos 5

1 Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, house of Israel.

Hear ye this word which I take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 The virgin Israel has fallen; she will rise no more; she is forsaken on her land; there is no one to raise her up.

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] none to raise her up.

3 For this is what the Lord Yahweh says: “The city that went out with a thousand will have a hundred left, and the one that went out with a hundred will have ten left belonging to the house of Israel.”

For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out [by] a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth [by] an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

4 For this is what Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live!

For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

5 Do not seek Bethel; nor enter Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will become nothing.

But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

6 Seek Yahweh and live, or he will break out like fire in the house of Joseph. It will devour, and there will be no one to quench it in Bethel.

Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour [it], and [there be] none to quench [it] in Beth-el.

7 Those people turn justice into a bitter thing and throw righteousness down to the ground!”

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

8 God made the Pleiades and Orion; he turns darkness into the morning; he makes the day dark with night and calls for the waters of the sea; he pours them out on the surface of the earth. Yahweh is his name!

[Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name:

9 He brings sudden destruction on the strong so that destruction comes on the fortresses.

That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

10 They hate anyone who corrects them in the city gate, and they abhor anyone who speaks the truth.

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 Because you trample down the poor and take portions of wheat from him— although you have built houses of worked stone, you will not live in them. You have delightful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading [is] upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, take bribes, and turn aside the needy in the city gate.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate [from their right].

13 Therefore any prudent person is silent at such a time, for it is an evil time.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it [is] an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. So Yahweh, the God of hosts, will really be with you, as you say he is.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

15 Hate evil, love good, establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore, this is what Yahweh says, the God of hosts, the Lord, “Wailing will be in all the squares, and they will say in all the streets, 'Woe! Woe!' They will call the farmers to mourning and the mourners to wail.

Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing [shall be] in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says Yahweh.

And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.

18 Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light,

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD [is] darkness, and not light.

19 as when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he goes in a house and puts his hand on the wall and a snake bites him.

As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness and not light? Gloom and no brightness?

[Shall] not the day of the LORD [be] darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I despise your festivals, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals.

Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them: ] neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Remove from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the sound of your harps.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 Instead, let justice flow like water, and righteousness like a constantly flowing stream.

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 You have lifted up the images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your star god, which you made for yourselves.

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

27 Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name [is] The God of hosts.